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Chris Sale wants you to know that he knows he “acted like an idiot”.
He also wants you to know that the camera is to blame for him making headlines on Thursday.
The Boston Red Sox hurler hasn’t thrown a major league pitch since 2021. But he is almost ready to return from a long stint on the injured list with various injuries including a broken rib. Part of the process included a rehab start Wednesday with Triple-A Worcester Red Sox. It didn’t go as planned.
Sale was drawn after a base-loaded walk in the fourth inning. He responded by doing the following:
This is Sale taking out his frustrations on what was hanging on the walls of the WooSox tunnel. As one piece of wall decoration took the full force of his anger and shattered on the tunnel floor, another struggled. When he was unable to tear down the second piece of mural art, Sale gave him three powerful kicks before stepping out of the tunnel.
On Thursday, Sale admitted he was actually the man responsible for the wreck — and that he also claimed a television set during his rampage.
“It happens, doesn’t it? I wouldn’t be here without that. … I expect a lot from myself. I expect to be who I am. When that doesn’t work out, emotions sometimes take over for the best. Worcester made a new TV out of it.”
When Sale pressed to respond to people who reacted to the video, he — without naming names — blamed the person who shot it. In this case, it was NBC 10 Boston’s Alysha Palumbo. He also explained that his job as a baseball player is under pressure — unlike someone who works for, say, a global financial institution.
“That’s their problem filming it,” Sale continued. “If you want me to act like a normal person, you have to treat me like a normal person. This is not a normal atmosphere. If I was at Bank of America it wouldn’t work, would it? We’re not at Bank of America. This is sports. This is leverage. That’s pressure.”
Sale went on to admit that he “acted like an idiot.” He then quickly returned to blaming the camera for his troubles on Thursday.
“I made mistakes when I was young,” Sale continued. “I won’t shy away from it. I acted like an idiot last night. I’ve acted like an idiot before.
“I do it in the dugout. I’ve been told over the years, ‘Hey, take it to the tunnel.’ You think you’re in a safe place. You think you’re private. This is a place you’re not supposed to have cameras in. There’s no public access to it, so I figured I’d be a safer place somehow.”
Also, his anger makes him good at baseball.
“It is what it is,” Sale continued. “It is who I am. That makes me a great player. That makes me good at my job. It may not be the best for the public. But what is? who is perfect Name him. I would like to shake his hand. …
“You’re just acting like an idiot, honestly. It’s just a seven-year tantrum. I’m not proud of that. It’s not something I want to do. Like I said, things happen, man. You have to find out.”
In case you missed it, something actually happens when Sale is around. During spring 2016 training with the Chicago White Sox, Sale reportedly delivered a profane tirade against general manager Kenny Williams after Williams banned a teammate’s teenage son from the clubhouse.
That same season, he cut up his and some teammates’ promotional uniforms because he didn’t want to wear his on the hill. He was scratched from his scheduled start that day and eventually traded in the offseason.
When he’s at his best, Sale is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. At 33, coming off three years of injury-plagued seasons, Sale is no longer at his best. Eventually, the downside of his temper outweighs his downside on the hill. Luckily for Sale, he has more than two years left on the five-year, $145 million extension he signed in 2019.
